


The Sleep Demon

by DenDragon14



Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [9]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cataplexy, Companion Piece, Cuddling, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Epileptic! Race, Feelings, Gen, Hallucinations, Kissing, M/M, Microsleeps, Narcolpetic! Spot, Roomates and Lovers, Sharing a Bed, Sleep Paralysis, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDragon14/pseuds/DenDragon14
Summary: The week of the dreaded midterms has arrived and Spot is very stressed out. The worsening of his stress tends to make the symptoms of his Narcolepsy much worse. Race, being Race, does his best to be supportive and understanding when/where possible.A companion piece to "Something They Can't Understand", "Sleeping Beauty", "I'm Here For You" and "Saw it Coming"
Relationships: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608244
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	The Sleep Demon

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually super difficult for me to write, so some written feedback would be much appreciated! 
> 
> Apologies for any typos or other errors in this since I can't be perfect, even though my brain tries to be. I'll say that some of the experiences in regards to Spot's Narcolepsy are based on my own experiences with some of these symptoms involved with Narcolepsy. 
> 
> And just a little heads up that it kinda starts heading down the smut trail at the end.....nothing major but still, thought I should mention it.

Race, Davey, and Specs were scouring the library in search of books to use as sources for an upcoming philosophy essay. Both Davey and Specs, being more focused on the task at hand, had found what they needed and had already checked the books out of the system. Race got confused by book titles as his dyslexia messed with his brain comprehending the words. He finally chose a book, only to find out it wasn't even remotely close to what he wanted or needed.  
  
"A little help, please, gentlemen," he asked as he slipped another book back onto the shelf. "Do I write on Aristotle or Plato or should I do a comparison.....wait. Am I even on the right topic?" Davey sighed impatiently while Specs gave a small chuckled and drummed his fingers over the book spines before he pulled out a few and handed them to Race.  
  
"You're on the right topic, more or less. We're looking at the different major ethical perspectives." He pulled out another book and placed it atop the short stack he'd acquired for Race. "I'd suggest taking a position on one perspective you agree and use debate as to why you agree that to be the best of the ethical perspectives."   
  
"Hey, Race, isn't that Spot over there?" Davey asked, nodding his head in the direction of the study area that split the fiction from the non-fiction section. The area was set up with large round tables where people could study and do their work in relative peace and quiet; needless to say, the deadly quiet space of the library wasn't the place for him to study, mostly because he'd gotten kicked out twice for being too loud. He looked over to where Davey had gestured and sure enough, Spot was at one of the tables, slumped over a book, his forehead practically resting on the book pages.  
  
"Poor guy," Specs murmured. "He looks beat."  
  
Race knew that Spot hated test week. The midterm week was his second least favorite week while finals week had to be the worst by far, at least that was he had vented to Race as the dreaded week approached and reared its ugly head. Apparently, Spot didn't do well under a lot of stress. It tended to wear on his nerves a lot more and it messed with his sleep which was already fucked six ways to Sunday and back. At the end of the summer, since they'd been an item more or less, they'd made a unanimous decision to room together in the dorms at the start of the fall semester, and if Race thought his sleep patterns were strange, Spot's were even stranger. For someone who seemed slow and drowsy the majority of the time, there were times that it seemed like a button had been pushed and an Energy Bunny battery had been inserted into his boyfriend's brain.  
  
The majority of the time, and as long as he had known him, Spot was the type of individual who took things at his own pace and was easily tired out by crowds and social interactions and yet still Race was surprised how Spot managed to get his work done considering whenever he saw the shorter boy around on campus, or even in their own room, he was asleep or on the verge of being asleep. But nonetheless, he gave kudos for him pushing past such an obstacle.  
  
However, when the sun went down, that's when his energy seemed to be highest and it was weird considering he'd never seen his boyfriend carry a long length of energetic disposition before, not even when they were getting very intimate with one another. While Race would be getting ready to retire for the night, Spot was wide awake and multi-tasking. Race thought it strange though that he was often left alone, awake to stare at the ceiling by himself since Spot was out like a light within three minutes, sometimes sooner, after sex; Race often teased that this offended him but he really didn't care because he knew that when Spot fell asleep wasn't entirely up to him. Nonetheless, Race knew that all of this was due to Spot's Narcolepsy, but unlike Race's epilepsy, he still struggled to grasp the entire concept of the illness. His epilepsy was more straightforward and easier to understand while Spot's Narcolepsy was somewhat more difficult to follow.  
  
He handed the books over to Specs and started making his way across the room to the farthest table. "I'll catch up with you guys in a moment. I'm going to go wake him up."

* * *

The world around him had drifted away and he was left in a black void. He knew where he was, physically anyway. He was in the library, in the study area at the table that sat practically against the windows. He had had an hour and a half to kill between classes so he thought he'd make use of his time and try and study for his upcoming Biology midterm. Normally, Spot would never admit that he was stressed, but the stress showed itself in physical ways, a betrayal of his body. For the majority of the day, and the past week, he had been falling into and out of brain fogs at the most inconvenient of times and if it wasn't that, it was the microsleeps, and he could see afterward just by how his professors glared at him for falling asleep in class.  
  
Some of the classes were boring, some of them weren't, but he knew that content was important; if it bored him, it was more than likely he'd fall asleep. Other times, he could feel a sleep attack coming on but there wasn't much he could do to go about and prevent it. The exhaustion always hit him like a giant wave, crashing over him and pulling him down as the tide pulled away. And every single time he got pulled under, tossed around, thrown out toward the riptide and drowned. He'd come out of his last class in a daze, unsure of what had just happened and wondering where the time had gone.  
  
And now, he sat in the library, floating in a dark space in his head, unable to open his eyes since invisible lead blocks had attached themselves to his eyelids and pulled them shut. But he could still hear everything going on around him and being in the library, the place was nearly dead silent most of the time so there wasn't much stimuli to hear. All he heard was the hum of the fluorescent lights above and the odd shuffle of feet on the carpet as the random few people shuffled about the many aisles of books.  
  
His muscles tensed momentarily as a gentle hand landed on his back and began to rub in slow circles. The invisible weights still rested on his eyes, but he managed to force his head up. From the smell of the other individual, as well as the feel of someone rubbing his back, he knew it had to be Race. 

There was something strange about his episodes like someone was pressing buttons in his brain. For the time he'd been trying to study, an invisible being in his brain had turned off everything except his hearing, and then all of a sudden everything was back up and running. It was strange, and if he had to explain it to someone, it was difficult. How do you explain it to someone without confusing them if you're referring to a machine or a person?

His eyes shot open and all sensation came flooding back into his fingers and toes as his brain readjusted to suddenly being fully turned on. He turned to Race, who's blue eyes were glazed with concern.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You studying or sleeping?" The tone in his boyfriend's voice was light, although the concern in his eyes ran deep. Spot bit on his tongue to prevent any snarky, sarcastic response. It wasn't a good day, it was clear enough a blind man could see; he shouldn't have to explain that to Race. His eyes trailed up to the clock that rested above the door to the library's computer lab and swore. He got to his feet as he hastily gathered all his things and shoved them back into his backpack; he'd have to book it halfway across campus to get to his next class on time.  
  
"Hey." Race grabbed his wrist before he took off. His brow was furrowed, his lips pulled down in a frown. "Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
Spot nodded and pulled himself free as he headed towards the library doors. He blew Race a kiss and, even though the librarian would scold him, in a louder than normal voice he said, "I'll see you later, okay."  
  
He nearly ran over Hotshot on his way to his last class of the day and since he was headed in the same direction the two decided to walk with one another for a bit before Spot had to part ways. He and Sniper were roomies this year since Race and he were rooming together but Spot still managed to hang out with the boy on a regular occasion. Just because they lived in different dorms and had no classes together that semester didn't mean he was about to ditch his friend. In-between classes, they managed to have lunch now and again or walk with the other to whatever class they were headed towards like they were now. Hotshot brought up a research paper that he was eager to be finished with and Spot was more than content to listen to him vent about all the issues he had with said paper up until he spotted the building he needed to be in.

He changed his course and veered off of the sidewalk to cut across the lawn since it would be faster. His entire body seemed to stutter for a moment if that was possible, and a wave of exhaustion ran from head to toe. He had to pause for a moment as he took the next step forward as his knees buckled underneath him for the fraction of a moment. It was over in the blink of an eye, and to most, no one saw anything, but the feeling lingered for a moment or two, like a bad taste.   
  
"You okay man," Hotshot asked.   
  
Spot rubbed at his eyes and yawned as he shifted his bag onto his other shoulder. "Yeah...I'm okay."  
  
"Well, what was that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your knees buckled. I thought you were going to fall over for a minute."  
  
Spot sighed, annoyed; so it had been noticeable. He hadn't had any cataplexy attacks in awhile. Generally, cataplexy was triggered by strong emotions, and normally for him, he fit the norm. However, as of recently, he found that he got cataplexy when he was utterly exhausted and literally on his last legs. And with it being the week of dreaded midterms, his sleep was all screwy and his nerves were all frazzled and even though he refused to admit it, he was tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. He seriously felt one mishap away from having an emotional breakdown.  
  
" I'll be okay," he said, shrugging off his friend's concerned look. "I just need some sleep."

* * *

Spot arrived back at his dorm, and although relieved that class was finally finished for the day, he had to all but force himself up the three flights of stairs and down to where there was a combined kitchen and day room. Each dorm was around five or six levels and every third level held one of these rooms in which students were free to cook and bake and store food and lounge about and watch television. Spot was surprised people managed to stay civil when it came to storing things in the fridges, considering that sometimes, drunk or sober, college kids ignored labels on containers and ate what they damn well wanted.

Given the time of day, the place was pretty empty, with only one or two other students lingering about in the common area. He spotted Race over on one of the large L shaped sofas, his attention focused on some strange handheld video game. Again, his inner gears stuttered as the sensation of exhaustion ran through his body and his knees buckled and he literally fell into the couch. He steadied himself barely by grabbing the back of the couch  
  
"Woah, you okay, babe?" Race asked, glancing up from his game. "Did you trip over your own feet or something?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," he grumbled as he straightened up. "And no, I didn't trip over my own feet. You're the clumsy one in this relationship."  
  
Race didn't seem convinced at his answer, but he nodded and smiled slightly. " I'm only clumsy when I want to be." He closed the Nintendo DS Race had been playing with and slid into his jean pocket. "Well, I was going to make dinner. I'm craving some spaghetti!"   
  
Spot smirked and sat down on the couch and pulled out his Biology textbook as Race went about prepping a meal. He propped it open and started to silently read through a chapter on the many different parts of the human anatomy, highlighting the important tidbits as he went. From where he sat, he could hear Race rummaging around the cupboards for all the things he needed to make his spaghetti dish.

At some point, his eyes had drifted shut and he'd started to drift back into that black abyss in his head. He knew where he was, and what was going on around him more or less, but it was like someone had press the shutdown button in his brain and everything except his hearing had ceased to function properly. Just to move or to force his eyes open was a big task in itself let alone try and write or read something; that nearly impossible.  
  
Spot hated falling asleep in public; other than Race and their friends, no one knew about his Narcolepsy and they just chalked it up to laziness or a party animal that didn't know when to quit. That or he was a stoner who was so mellowed out by whatever he was on, it put him to sleep. It was hard to explain to people what happened or how he felt when no one he'd ever met could relate because he'd never met anyone who had the same condition as himself.

Just like someone had pressed a button to turn everything off, there was also a button to turn everything back on. Spot wasn't even sure why sometimes it was easier to slip in and out of his sleep attacks. Sometimes it felt as though he were struggling up a mountain while his hands and feet were tied, but other times it felt as easy and effortless as flicking on a light switch.   
  
"You hungry, babe?"

The moment he heard Race call out, that 'on' button was pressed and Spot was back in the moment. He rubbed a hand over his face and rubbed at his eyes as he tried to fully wake himself up. Spot ate rather reluctantly; it seemed like too much effort to eat at the moment. Eventually, he pushed the half-eaten food away from him. He packed up his books and slung his bag over his shoulder as he stood up.

"Thanks, Tony. I appreciate it."

"No, I get it, babe." Race said smiling as he patted his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You go rest."

* * *

He got back to their room, kicked off his shoes, threw his bookbag down to the and flopped onto his designated bed. He sighed as his body hit the mattress and he put his feet up and made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, exhaling heavily as he tried to relax his muscles. At some point, his eyelids grew very heavy until he could barely open them. He became enveloped in a bubble of quiet and his body became ice cold and everything seemed to still. There was a far off sound that kept him from drifting off completely as he tried to a place a name to the noise. He'd heard it before but with his brain half asleep, he struggled to find the correct term for it. It was related to weather and wet.  
  
 _Rain?_ Yes, that was it.  
  
 _Rain on a metal roof._  
  
 _When had it started raining?_  
  
 _When had he even gone outside?_  
  
 _And did this dorm even have a metal roof?_  
  
Immediately, as he voiced the questions in his mind, the sensation of rain falling on his face, and the sound of rain pounding on a metal roof, vanished. Instead, it was replaced with the peculiar sensation of the mattress beneath him breathing. In and out, slow and steady, like some sleeping beast. And while the mattress did this, a cool breeze blew over him despite the window being closed and no fan being on or even present in the room.  
  
He rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes, annoyed, as he tried to fall back into the calm state just before he fell asleep. The hallucinations were annoying; when he'd first started experiencing it had been somewhat frightening but over time, like with his rare episodes of sleep paralysis, he'd gotten use to it. It was something he had to live he supposed, but at least he got some very vivid dreams out of it. Eventually, pushing the hallucinations aside he was able to drift off to sleep with ease.

* * *

He kept his eyes closed.  
A sense of panic and dread filled his chest and spread up and down his body in an uncomfortable. Very close to his ears, he could hear the snuffling grunts of a creature and although he was profoundly disgusted as it slobbered over him, he kept his eyes closed. During periods of sleep paralysis, he always kept his eyes closed. It was better that way; it spared him from a jump scare that might send anyone into cardiac arrest. There had been the one time he'd opened them and the image of what he'd seen still remained burnt into his brain although it had happened years ago when was still in his pre-teen years.  
  
The near suffocating pressure on his chest was familiar. The raspy, whispering voice in his ear was familiar too. He'd heard it enough times that he knew what this sleep demon wanted. He didn't speak fucking Latin but he knew well enough that this demon came for his soul. Its claws were gripped around his shoulders like a strong vice as its palms pressed into his chest like a hot iron. Hot breath caressed his face and Spot wished he could move and shove the creature off of him. The only thing that seemed to make the creature disappear and the sleep paralysis end was if he remained calm.  
  
Panicking only made things worse, scarier, and last longer and it was easy to say that he'd gotten sick of the sleep demon coming after him every now and then, demanding he hand over his soul. He said no the first time and the answer wasn't going to change any time soon. And although he knew that whatever he experienced in the sleep episode was the work of his imagination, it was still annoying that it was always the same thing, over and over. And even though the fear of the experience had died down, he still struggled from time to time as he told the demon to beat it and leave empty-handed.  
  
The moment ended like being abruptly woken from a dream; it vanished into the cloud and smoke as his body finally caught up with his mind and everything was able to move. A strange peace seemed to float around the room, and the pressure on his chest, the warmth of the demon's breath in his face, all of it was gone and all Spot felt was the bed he laid in.  
  
He was also aware of someone pressed up against his side, an arm wrapped tightly around him. For a brief moment, Spot thought he might have entered into a hypnopompic hallucination, which tended to happen upon wakening; these weren't as frequent, but if anything, these hallucinations were scarier than those that happened just before he fell asleep since he'd often confused himself when he'd heard voices but had been entirely alone so the warmth of someone pressed up against him didn't fit. Based off the lingering scent of cigarettes and mint, it had to be Race.

It would have been weird if it had been anybody else. He groaned and shifted his weight and rolled to his side to face Race. Race smiled sweetly and rubbed Spot's back with the hand that was draped over him.  
  
"Hey, baby. Are you okay? Bad dreams?"  
  
Spot blinked, confused, "Uh, no. That wasn't a bad dream." He rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to shake the last of the sleepiness away. I was having a sleep paralysis episode."  
  
"Sleep paralysis, isn't that suppose to be scary?"  
  
Spot shrugged. "Sometimes. It depends on the person. I find that the more it happens the more desensitized you get to it since the experiences are all kind of the same." He'd spent a good amount of time on the internet reading about sleep paralysis and although it was obvious that everyone's experiences were different, he hadn't known that a person's religion and personal beliefs could act as an influence for the paralysis episode. He briefly explained to Race that whenever he experienced an episode there was always some type of 'being' in the room and it generally wanted to do malicious things to him.  
  
"Really?" Race's eyebrows shot up in surprise. His fingers tapped on Spot's chest and he hummed in thought. "That's...kinda creepy. So, what happened, did it try to kill you or eat you or something bloody like that? You were muttering an awful lot, you know." Race chuckled quietly at his own joke. "I mean, what exactly did that demon have to say."

"I was telling the demon to fucking take a hike."

"Demon? Was it trying to drag you to hell?"

"It always wants to drag me to hell. And every time I tell it to get its ass back where it came from."  
  
"Does that happen a lot?"  
  
Spot sighed heavily. He pulled Race's arm off of him and intertwined their hands together. "No, not really. Generally when I'm stressed. Or really sleep-deprived."

Race hummed in acknowledgment and nuzzled his face against Spot's neck and kissed him gently at the base of his neck and along his collarbone, and he pulled his hand free from Spot's and ran it down Spot's chest to the buttons on his pants which Race undid and slipped his hand down beneath Spot's boxers. Spot moaned, his back arching in desire while Race gently massaged at his hardening member.

He inhaled as one hand curled in Race's shirt while the other went to pull Race's other hand out of his pants. It was hard to deny the body its pleasure by his brain had other things to be doing at the moment, and frankly, with the amount of time he'd fallen asleep today, he hadn't accomplished much of anything other than making all his professors hate him.  
  
"Not tonight."  
  
Race pouted. "Why not? It's not like someone's gonna walk in and disturb us."  
  
Spot caressed Race's cheek with his knuckles and kissed him on the lips. "You know I'd love to, but although a stress relief, that puts me to sleep like someone punching my lights out."  
  
"Are you saying I'm boring?" Race asked, mocking offense.  
  
Spot chuckled. "No, you're not boring. Far from it. Going at it, even if it's just a handy, just drains energy." He tucked a hand under Race's chin and pulled him in for another sweet kiss.   
  
"Maybe after midterms are finished. You can reward me."

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this!  
> This little one-shot was hard to write, and here I was thinking it would be easy considering I have Narcolepsy, but then I realized that it was difficult to get my thoughts and experiences into proper wording and express that and type it up on a computer.
> 
> Give me some constructive feedback if you got any! I am severely backed up with all my writing ideas and I honestly don't know which ones to finish first.  
> Also, if you ever feel so inclined, come say hello on Tumblr and find me- @ raving-raven-writing.


End file.
